Thick Fudgy Frosted Brownies

Good morning! I hope that your week is going well. I have been baking up a storm this week, cheesecakes, cookies, a cake and these brownies. Thankfully they were all for friends otherwise all of my hard work from my walking workout would be undone. 

These brownies are the kind that I like, moist, thick, fudge and delicious. As I always mention, if you like cake like brownies then these might not be for you.

The frosting is not needed but is a nice chocolatty addition. If do not like frosting or have another favorite recipe than by all means use that instead. 

Thick Fudgy Frosted Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup melted butter, slightly cooled

1 cup flour

2 cup sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoon coffee

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

31/2 cup confectioners

1/4 cup cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees  and grease an 8x8 inch pan.  Sift together the dry ingredients. Add the butter and vanilla, then add the eggs mixing well after each addition. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes. Do not over bake.

(I like to make my brownies a little underdone that way they do not dry out as fast.)Cool on wire rack.

Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the remaining ingredients, whisking until smooth and thickened. Pour over warm brownies then let cool. 

These brownies would be a great addition to your weekend barbecue or just as a snack! I hope that you try them!

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Who knew? I love chocolate chip cookies and if you do to then I have plenty  of recipes here. These are a few of my favorites.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

Ritz Carleton Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have many more recipes and you can find them in the search box. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Double Chocolate Bourbon Brownies with Hershey's Chocolate Frosting

Good morning! Are you ready for a decadent, moist, fudgy brownie that might possibly be the "best" brownie that you have ever eaten? As I have mentioned numerous times I am a huge brownie fan, but only fudge brownies, not cake like; add a little or a lot of frosting and I could enjoy a whole pan, not in one sitting of course, but maybe in a day.

While perusing the Internet for Kentucky Derby party ideas for my other blog, Pine Cones and Acorns I came across this recipe from Broma Bakery and I knew it would be perfect for the weekend.  After all, the Kentucky Derby is all about the bourbon and the horses. The only thing I changed was the frosting, I made my favorite frosting from Hershey's instead. 

Double Chocolate Bourbon Brownies

Recipe from Broma Bakery

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 tablespoons Bourbon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of flour

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 8x8" baking pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl, you can do this in the microwave, 30 second intervals until melted.

Add sugar to chocolate mixture, stir well. Then add the bourbon, eggs and salt. Fold in the flour and cocoa powder. Mix until smooth and shiny but do not be overzealous. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. DO NOT OVER BAKE.

Cool completely, then frost with your favorite frosting or a quarter recipe of Hershey's Chocolate Frosting or to make the Bourbon Frosting that the original recipe called for click here.

I hope that you enjoy these brownies and your weekend!

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding

Pudding of any kind is a favorite and easy dessert of mine. It is a great comfort food warm or cold. Lately I have been making a lot of tapioca pudding and decided to change it up a bit by making it chocolate. Both versions taste great, but it is nice to have a smooth, creamy, rich chocolate version. 

Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding

1/3 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons instant Tapioca

23/4 cups of milk

1 egg, well beaten

11/2 Teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 generous hand full 60% chocolate Ghiradelli chocolate chips

Berries and or whipped cream for garnish

Mix the sugar, tapioca, milk and egg in a medium sauce pan and let stand for 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, cook over medium heat, string constantly until mixture comes to a full boil. Then remove from heat and stir in vanilla bean paste. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. 

Cool for 20 minutes and then stir. You can serve warm of chilled. If you would like creamier pudding be sure the put plastic wrap over the surface of the pudding while it is cooling. 

Garnish with berries and whipped cream if you wish then sit back and enjoy!

If you would like to try the plain Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding recipe from Pine Cones and Acorns click HERE.

Decadent Dark Chocolate Torte

To say that I make a lot of desserts would be an understatement. On this blog, as well as, on my other blog Pine Cones and Acorns I only post the ones I really like. This dessert is in a category all by itself because it is SPECTACULAR! It is the richest, most decadent chocolate dessert I have ever made. In fact it is the only dessert I have ever made that I stop after two or three bites, that is how rich and delicious it is.

If you like truffles or flour less chocolate cakes then I think you will like this torte. I think the only thing that would make this better is a few berries and a glass of champagne. 

Decadent Dark Chocolate Torte

15 oz. dark chocolate 60% or higher, chopped

11/2 cups butter softened

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of coffee, espresso, or flavored liquor

5 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt

Garnish 

Whipped cream

Fresh berries

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan, wrap the bottom in aluminum foil and set into a large roasting pan. 

In a medium sauce pan, over medium-low heat combine the chopped chocolate, butter and sugar. Stir constantly until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Watch carefully of this or it will burn. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add the coffee or liqueur and stir.

Add the egg yolk and the whole eggs to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2 minutes on medium. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and mix until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Fill roasting pan with hot water about 1/4 of the way up the spring form pan. Carefully place into a preheated 350 oven. Bake until the edges are set and the center is slightly soft, about 25-30 minutes. 

Carefully remove the spring form pan from the water bath and place on a cooling rack, cool completely then remove foil and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. 

Garnish with berries and cream. 

Enjoy!


Linking to:
Coastal Charm
Rattlebridge Farm
The Charm of the Home

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER

I grew up on Toll-House cookies, and remember many happy days arriving home to a batch fresh from the oven. I still like them but I am always looking for the "next best" cookie. That may be obvious because I frequently feature cookie recipes here, like the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie, Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or The Ritz Carleton Chocolate Chip Cookie among a few. 

I like my cookies filled with chocolate and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and I do not like them flat!

These cookies fit that criteria and more. They are simply the best cookies I have ever made!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 cup salted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspnns coarse sea salt

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

7 ounces of 65% dark chocolate chips chopped into pieces

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder, set aside. Cream the butter and sugars in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated. Stop mixer and use a spatula to get the stuff off the bottom of the bowl. 

Turn mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture, mix on low until incorporated. 

Add the chopped chocolate and chocolate chips and store until evenly distributed.

Cover dough and refrigerate overnight. 

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Using an ice cream scoop, portion out cookies onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silphat. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until brown on the edges and a light brown on top. They will look a little underdone. Let sit on pan to cool as they will bake a little more while cooling. Then remove to a rack to cool a bit more. Or eat while still warm. 

I found that when the dough is very cold they take at least 12 minutes in my oven. 

Note: People like their cookies at different levels of "doneness".  Bake your cookies to the way that you like them. 

I hope you try these cookies! I think you will love them!

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Loaf Cake

• Typically cake is not my "go to" dessert, for the simple reason that I do not like to have an entire cake just sitting around the house. After all  there are only two of us and we do not need a entire cake to eat. 

• 
  
• I like to make recipes that I can make in small batches, like cookies and brownies, that way I can freeze the extra dough or the brownies and then have some at a later date. 
• 
  
•  Lately though I have wanted to have a nice moist piece of cake that was easy to make and was not laden with a thick layer of frosting, a cake that the ingredients themselves stood out. And something that was small enough that we would not be eating it for a week afterward. This cake fits the bill perfectly. (I did drizzle this cake with a little melted chocolate just for decorative purposes.)

• I have never made a loaf cake, except for an old fashioned pound cake and frankly I found it to be a bit dry. This Chocolate Loaf Cake from Nigella Lawson is FABULOUS! It is delicious, rich, dense and so chocolaty. It is now my husbands favorite dessert! 
• 
  

• Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake  
• Adapted from Nigella Lawson How to Be a Domestic Goddess
• 
  
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean extract
• 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted 
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee or espresso

Heat the oven to 375. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, then spray with cooking spray. 
Cream the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer, add the egg and the vanilla bean extract. 
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Melt the chocolate, you can use the microwave but be careful not to burn it. Cool slightly then fold into the egg, sugar mixture. Do not beat or mix vigorously, you do not want to add air to the cake. 
Add the flour, spoon by spoon, alternating with the bourbon and coffee, blend well. But do not overheat the mixture. The mixture will be liquid like.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, stop when the batter is 1 inch from the top otherwise the mixture will OVERFLOW in the oven. Put leftover mix into a smaller pan or muffin tins. 
Bake for 30 minutes, then turn oven down to 325 and cook an additional 15 minutes. The cake will be a bit soft, an inserted cake tester or toothpick will not come out clean. Place the loaf on a rack and leaf to get completely cold before you turn it out of the pan. Nigella says to leave the cake to sit for a day, it is best this way. The cake will sink in the middle so do not worry. 

* NOTE: Nigella's recipe does not contain coffee or bourbon, if you do not want to make it like this then add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of boiling water. 

Have you ever made Nigella's cake? Did you like? I really love this cake and have in fact made it several more times and have even frozen a loaf or two, just to have when people stop in. It is perfect as is, but I think it would be excellent garnished with berries and a little whipped cream as well.

I hope that if you try it you let me know how you liked it or if you made any changes please share them!


Linking to: 
Rattlebridge Farm, The Charm of the Home